Caz College student raises funds for aid agencies

Art and crafts sale on Nov. 30 will benefit children around the world

Cazenovia College student Heather Murfitt poses with her paintings. Murfitt is planning fundraiser for children in need, to be held from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30 in Cazenovia College’s Morgan Room in Hubbard Hall.

Cazenovia  “Hakuna Matata,” inspirational art with an everlasting impact, was created by Cazenovia College student Heather Murfitt, a human services major from Syracuse, to raise money for children in need and children in trouble.

Murfitt is planning her third art show and sale fundraiser, to be held from noon to 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 30 in Cazenovia College’s Morgan Room in Hubbard Hall. Artists wishing to enter their work in the exhibition may contact Murfitt by email: hmmurfitt@cazenovia.edu.

The exhibition and sale will include artwork by both established and budding artists and photographers from around Central New York, as well as jewelry and craft items.

Fifty percent of the money raised will go to three charities, with buyers designating the fund they wish to support.

Murfitt dreams of helping kids. She found her dream during an internship in Washington, D.C., working for an organization called Dreams for Kids. Her job was to plan and implement a holiday event for 700 underprivileged children. That job, and the people she met while in Washington, changed her life direction.

“I didn’t want to leave Washington when my internship ended,” Murfitt said. “My supervisor even said she would have hired me full time. The night before I left, I tried to figure out how I could keep doing the same kind of work — helping kids — and still go to school. I looked around my apartment at the paintings on my walls. I decided I could raise money by selling them.”

She created a web store, Hakuna Matata, and has hosted two art shows, raising $800 for the charities she represents: Dreams for Kids — for underprivileged kids and those with disabilities; Falling Whistles – for child soldiers; and Urban Light — for children used as sex slaves in Thailand.